FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Concerts in Evanston

Lovely First United Methodist Church in Evanston is home to nearly all Music of the Baroque performances. Its convenient location in the heart of Evanston makes it a great option for audience members from North Shore suburbs and Chicago’s north side. With a three-quarter wraparound balcony, First United Methodist permits music lovers to choose from several different viewing perspectives. It seats 900.

1631 Chicago Avenue, EvanstonReservations: 847.869.3900

Oceanique

505 Main Street, EvanstonReservations: 847.864.3435

Tapas Barcelona

1615 Chicago Avenue, EvanstonReservations: 847.866.9900

About First United Methodist Church

The present building of First United Methodist Church was designed
by architect and church member Thomas Eddy Tallmadge; construction started
in 1911. (Tallmadge also designed another Music of the Baroque venue,
Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest.) The Gothic sanctuary of the
Evanston church is largely the result of an extensive remodeling in
1930, also under the guidance of Tallmadge. The off-center middle aisles
became a formal central aisle, stained glass replaced the original amber
windows, and the western rose window was reset in stone tracery. A fifteenth-century
French Gothic clergy stall and a new white Italian marble baptismal
font were installed. With added balconies (definitely not Gothic), seating
capacity was increased.

Two features of the remodeled sanctuary are outstanding. The leaded glass windows by Powell & Sons of London are intricately detailed and richly colored. In the east Te Deum window, Christ is clothed in regal crimson, which was achieved with metallic gold in the glass. Lapis lazuli created the luminous blue of Mary’s robes. Signs located on columns adjacent to the tall two-story aisle windows identify the great Christians who are portrayed in them. The first window east of the north transept honors Frances E. Willard, the renowned reformer and educator who was also an active member of the church.

The ornately carved white oak reredos (ornamental screen behind the altar), designed by Ralph Adams Cram, was created by Swiss and German craftsmen working for Irving and Casson in Boston. It portrays moments in the life of Christ preaching in the side panels, in the Garden of Gethsemane at bottom center, and rising from the tomb in the scene above. At the top of the reredos, two angels hold a shield depicting a ship, an early symbol of the Christian church. The oak leaf (symbol of Evanston) appears throughout the building.

First United Methodist Church was founded in 1854 by John Evans, who also established Northwestern University and the town that is his namesake.